


Smiling is the Best Medicine

by DepressedDaisy



Category: Firefly
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s01e01 Serenity, F/M, Gunshot Wounds, Injury, Pre-Relationship, can be read just as friendship but we all know where this is heading, missing moment, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DepressedDaisy/pseuds/DepressedDaisy
Summary: "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required (...) I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug."Simon makes good on an oath he almost broke.
Relationships: Kaylee Frye & Simon Tam, Kaylee Frye/Simon Tam
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Smiling is the Best Medicine

**Author's Note:**

> (in case you can't tell, the quote in the summary is from the Hippocratic Oath, taken from Wikipedia)

For a ship without an on-board doctor (until now), the infirmary was surprisingly well-stocked. Simon rummaged through it to find what he needed, as well as to store his own supplies, and found it, to his surprise, relatively full and well-organized. Though, he supposed, having met the crew, that neatness was simply the sign no one had been here in a while.

Gathering the bandages and tape, he turned to the girl asleep on the bed, to change her original bandage. It’d been almost a day, by now, but she was still stationed at the med bay, in and out of consciousness, as being shot was nothing to take lightly, and it demanded a lot of energy to heal. Simon hadn’t even talked to her that much, only before the accident, and then it was just enough to gather her name was Kaylee and she was the mechanic, which was quite interesting on its own, though. It was rare finding female mechanics serving on crews like these, and even more rare finding girls so nice in vessels of this sort. Kaylee seemed to be always smiling, and everyone he’d talked to – all the threats he’d received for him to heal her – gave him the impression this woman was beloved amongst the crew. That made him feel worse for what he’d done. If it’d been the Captain who’d gotten shot, or that brute Jayne, leaving them to bleed out for the safety of his sister wouldn’t weigh quite so much on his soul. However, now, away from the action, he was starting to feel terrible over almost letting her die. He’d had to do some bad things in order to free his sister, including breaking the law multiple times, making deals with shady people, and losing trust in just about everyone else, but he’d never wanted to lose sight of his humanity.

Simon was just finishing up when the girl stirred awake. He stuck around, then, because he was sure she’d have some questions, and also because he wanted to talk to her himself.

‘Hey, doc.’ She greeted, and smiled, trying to get up, but wincing. It impressed Simon, that even after everything that had happened, including what he himself had put her through, she was still happy and bright.

‘Hello.’ He replied, attempting a small smile too. Everyone had always told him the best doctors could relate to their patients, offer reassurance and safety, and though he’d attempted it, Simon had never quite gotten the hang of the connecting-to-people thing. Being without human contact for weeks probably didn’t improve that either. ‘How, um – How are you feeling?’

‘Tired.’ Kaylee shrugged and resigned herself to lying down. ‘Stomach hurts.’

‘Yes, that’s to be expected when you get shot.’ Simon realized his lame attempt at humor was fruitless, but Kaylee had the grace to smile, nonetheless. ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be out of here and back on your feet in no time.’

‘That’s nice.’ She nodded, and closed her eyes again. Good. She should conserve her energies for healing, not talking. But still, Simon had to say something to her.

‘Kaylee?’ he tried.

‘Hm?’ She opened her eyes back up and looked at him expectantly.

‘I’m not sure how much you remember from… the incident. But I just wanted to say I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. For declining to treat you right away.’ Simon admitted, expecting her anger and sorrow. But then Kaylee did something Simon would’ve thought impossible, even knowing what he did about her: she smiled even brighter.

‘No worries, Simon.’ She said, and Simon couldn’t help furrowing his brow, confused. ‘You did heal me up, eventually, right? Plus, from what the Captain tells me, you just wanted to protect your sister. I can’t really blame ya, if it’s a family matter. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for my family. I get it.’ She finished, and shrugged, still smiling at him. And that caused something else Simon hardly thought was possible, after all this time: He smiled too.

‘That’s… That’s incredibly gracious of you.’ He thanked her.

‘No problem. I’d appreciate it if it didn’t happen again, though. If you guys really are staying around, I expect you to trust us enough to not let your sister get hurt without killing any of us for it.’ And despite his better judgement, this did cause Simon to laugh slightly, which made Kaylee grin. He was starting to see what was so special about this girl. She might just about be the most cheerful person in the ‘verse.

**Author's Note:**

> Written only because I was kinda mad at Simon for basically being willing to let someone die like that, and felt that that didn't really go with the politeness and dedication to his patients we later see him have. Even if it does make sense that he'd do it for River, after everything he went through to get her to safety. So, no canon divergence necessary, just something that not only do I completely see happening after the episode, but that I also think is just a bit necessary. Besides, given that Simon and Kaylee get together later, I felt the need to address this in order to clear the air and also to maybe lay a bit more groundwork in terms of early interactions between these two *wink*.


End file.
